


A Month With the Tomlinson Clan

by Larry_Klaine_Stylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 10:17:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/823152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larry_Klaine_Stylinson/pseuds/Larry_Klaine_Stylinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Louis have always hated each other, but when Harry's mum and sister have to go out of the country, Harry needs a place to stay, and Anne decides to ask her friend Jay if he can stay at her place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Month With the Tomlinson Clan

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a prompt fill on Tumblr.

Harry was sitting in his room, listening to music, and working on a bit of Math homework, when he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in!" He called, turning his music down to a lower level, so that he would be able to hear whoever it was that wanted to speak to him.

His mum made her way into his room and sat down on the edge of his bed, "Harry, you know your sister's looking into a few different Unis, right?"

Harry nodded, scribbling down the answer to the Math problem he'd been working on and then turning to face his mother.

"We've got to go off and take a tour of a few of them, and we've got to go out of Country."

"When?"

"We're leaving Saturday."

"How am I getting out of school?" Harry inquired.

Anne shook her head, "That's the problem, Harry. You can't skip school. You've got to stay here."

"Oh." Harry said. "Alright, I should be fine on my own. How long will you be gone?"

"A little over a month, love. She's got a couple of Unis to look at in France, and three in America, so we'll be gone for a bit. And I don't want you staying home alone for so long, so I've called Jay and she said you can stay at hers."

Harry tried not to roll his eyes. Jay was his mum's best friend, and he got on with her alright whenever she'd stop by for tea or whatever. But the problem was that her son was an obnoxious little brat. Louis and Harry had been going to the same school for a while now, and he'd seen him around. Harry's mum and Jay had made friends when the Tomlinson's had moved into the area a few years ago, and Harry and Louis had hated each other ever since. There was just something about Louis that irked Harry to no end, and it seemed as if Louis felt the same way about him.

"So you don't trust me to stay home by myself?" Harry asked.

"For a little over a month?" Anne asked. "It's not that I don't trust you, Harry. It's just that you'll need someone taking care of you and buying groceries while Gem and I are gone."

"Mum, I'm going to be old enough to live on my own in two years. I think I can handle being on my own for a month."

"You haven't got a job, Harry. How would you afford food?"

Harry sat there for a moment, deep in thought, "You could give me money."

"Harry, there's no use in that. Jay's offered to let you stay with her, and she's a lovely woman. You like Jay."

Harry shrugged, realizing he was fighting a losing battle and deciding to give up before he just made himself and his mother upset.

"Okay, fine."

"We'll only be gone a little over a month. I'm sure you'll be fine until then."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right." Harry said, though he really didn't believe the words.

"Gem and I will drop you off on the way to the airport on Saturday, alright?"

Harry nodded, turning back to his Math homework, assuming that the conversation was over. His mother got up, kissing him on the temple before leaving the room.

He let out a deep sigh and slammed his head against the desk. This was going to be a long month.

000

On Saturday Harry's mum drove him over to the Tomlinson household in the mid-afternoon, seeing as she and Gemma had a flight to board by seven, and they wanted to get there quite early, because getting properly boarded took ages these days.

She walked with him up to the front door, carrying one of the two duffel bags he'd packed, and he rang the doorbell once, hearing footsteps quickly approaching. He let out one last slightly defeated sigh, and then the front door opened, and he was greeted by the familiar face of Jay Tomlinson.

"Anne!" She smiled. "Harry! So good to see you."

"I've got to be off." Harry's mother told her. "I just wanted to bring him up and give you a quick hello." She handed Harry his second duffel bag, and he threw it over his shoulder.

"You and Gemma have fun looking around at the Unis, yeah?" Jay smiled. "I'll take take of Harry here, don't worry."

Anne gave Harry a quick kiss on the top of the head, having to stand up on her tippy toes to do so, because he'd grown quite a lot in the past year. She told him to be good and then told Jay to call her if anything important happened, and then she was headed back to the car, where Gemma waited patiently in the passenger's seat.

Harry and Jay both stood there, waving until the car was out of sight, and then Jay ushered Harry into the house.

"Louis' out with the girls at the park, but you'll be sharing his room while you're here." Jay said jovially. "He's got a bunk bed in there, so you won't have to sleep on the floor or the couch out here or anything." She smiled.

Neither Harry's mum nor Louis' mum knew that the two lads hated each other, so Harry just smiled back, nodding his understanding, and then following Jay up to what would be his room for the next month or so. It was a nice size. Big enough that he and Louis wouldn't have to cross paths too much. If they each stayed on separate sides of the room aside from at night when they were sleeping, it'd probably be fine. The walls were a light blue, and the floors were wooden. All in all it was an okay living space. It was just rather shit that he'd have to be sharing it with Louis.

Harry dropped his duffel bags down in the corner of the room, and Jay smiled at him, signaling for him to follow her. They walked all the way down to the end of the hall and she pointed to a door.

"This right here is the bathroom. All you kids have to share this one. And then my room's at the other end of the hall. Lottie's is here, Fizzy's is there, and Phoebe and Daisy's room is right there." She informed him, pointing to the room right next to hers, the room right next to Louis' and the room directly across from the bathroom respectively.

Harry nodded, not really sure why it mattered what room belonged to whom, but figuring it was good to know, just for reference.

"The telly's down in the front room. I'm sure you saw it on your way past. Then we've got the kitchen, and the drawing room. You're welcome to snack throughout the day, but just make sure you're still hungry when supper time rolls around, yeah? I always do quite a bit of cooking at dinner, and it irks me when the children have stuffed themselves full of crisps and chocolate."

Harry gave her a small smile, "I'm not one for eating too much between meals."

"Brilliant." Jay smiled. "You make yourself at home, Harry. I've got some tidying to get done, but Louis and the girls should be back soon and I'm sure they'll have ways to keep you company."

"Thanks, Mrs. Tomlinson." Harry said, rather certain he'd much prefer to sit around and read than spend any time with Louis.

"You can call me Jay, dear. You're going to be here for long enough. There's no use in using formal titles."

Harry nodded, "Got it."

"Good." Jay gave him a pat on the back, and then walked away, heading down the stairs, going to get whatever tidying she needed to do done.

Harry made his way back to the room he was going to be sharing with Louis and tried to determine which bunk was meant to be his, but to no avail. There was no real difference between the two, so there was no way to tell which one was inherently Louis'.

He found a chair sitting at the desk that was set up against the far wall, facing the window so that the sunlight spilled over the hardwood surface. He pulled the chair away from the desk, grabbed the book he'd been reading out of his duffel bag, and plopped down into the chair, beginning to read.

He only got a few pages in when he heard the front door open downstairs, and then nearly half a dozen pairs of feet stomped into the house loudly. He then heard a few pairs of feet running up the steps, and he prayed that none of them belonged to Louis.

His prayers were not answered, however, because mere seconds later the door to the room was flying open and Louis was stepping inside.

"Damn. Forgot you were going to be here." Louis said, more to himself than to Harry.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, then." Harry said. "I don't want to be here any more than you want me here."

Louis rolled his eyes.

"Which bunk is mine, then?"

"Bottom." Louis told him. "I can't stand sleeping underneath other people."

"Got it." Harry said, flipping his book open again and beginning to read.

Louis climbed up into his bunk, glancing over at Harry and scoffing loudly for seemingly no reason, before putting his headphones in and beginning to listen to some music that Harry assumed he himself would probably hate if he were to take a listen to it.

000

Nighttime was a bit awkward, because Harry didn't really want to change in front of Louis. It wasn't that he had an issue with Louis seeing him naked. They were both out gay guys, and who really cared at that point? It was just because he didn't like Louis, and he didn't like the idea of feeling vulnerable around him. So he went to the loo to change, putting on a pair of sweats and an old ratty t-shirt, seeing as he usually slept in the nude, he didn't really have any jim jams to speak of.

Louis climbed up to his bunk, and Harry flopped down on his, and there was an awkward bit of silence where it was obvious that neither of them was asleep yet, but neither of them were saying anything, nor were they doing anything, and it just gave Harry a sense of discomfort. He hadn't been able to fall asleep until well after Louis.

000

The rest of the weekend went by fairly okay. Harry stayed in the room and read and worked on his homework, and Louis worked on his homework down in the kitchen and played with his little sisters, and they kept their distance and everything was fine.

As they were lying in bed on Sunday night, stuck in the awkward 'not quite asleep but not doing anything' stage, Louis spoke. It was the first time he'd spoken to him since he'd told him which bunk would be his yesterday afternoon.

"Mum says I ought to drive you to school tomorrow."

Louis' voice was a little scratchy with sleep, and Harry had to ignore the way his heart fluttered a little happily at the sound. Louis hated him, and he hated Louis, and there was no room for fluttering hearts when it came to hatred.

"Yeah, alright."

"Fuck, everyone's going to think we're friends now."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure they don't." Harry said, rolling his eyes, the fluttering his heart had been doing at Louis' sleepy tone quickly subsiding.

"Alright." Louis sighed heavily.

"Alright." Harry said.

After that, they drifted off into the awkward stage yet again, where they were awake but not saying anything, and for a brief second Harry considered at least telling Louis goodnight, but thought better of it.

Eventually he was able to fall into a mostly peaceful sleep.

000

On Monday morning, Harry woke up a tad later than he'd planned, and found that Louis had already vacated the room. He got up, throwing on a pair of black jeans and a flannel shirt, ruffling his hair a bit, and heading sleepily down the stairs.

As he made his way into the kitchen, he was surprised to find that Jay had made a nice little breakfast for all of the children, whereas Harry himself was used to grabbing a quick bowl of cereal or an apple before school, as his mum hadn't the time to cook anything.

He sat down at the end of the table, which was where he had taken to sitting. It landed him across the table from Jay, and not directly next to any of the children. It wasn't that he didn't like the girls, but he just didn't know them very well, and so the end of the table felt a little more secluded, and he preferred to stay there.

They all sat there, munching away at their breakfast, most of them silent, aside from a few offhand comments from Fizz about some project she had due today that she was very certain she was going to get an A on.

Once they were all full and Harry was quite certain he and Louis were going to be late for school, they headed out the door. Harry and Louis' school started a bit earlier than school started for the girls, so Jay would be taking each of them to their respective schools later, as they didn't live quite near enough for a bus to come past.

The ride to school was silent and awkward, and Harry almost felt as if he'd rather have been late and waited for Jay to drive him later. Louis' gaze was placed firmly on the road, and yet Harry couldn't help but feel like he was watching him. He felt almost exposed in a way.

Once they arrived at school, however, everything went on as normal, aside from a little extra attempt from Harry and Louis with avoiding each other.

After school, the ride home was just as awkward as the ride there, and then Harry made his way up to their room to hide out and do homework until dinner time, and then heading immediately back up into hiding after finishing the meal, grabbing a quick shower before bed, and then drifting off to sleep a little faster than he had the first two nights, getting a bit more used to the sleeping arrangements.

000

The rest of the week went on in much of the same fashion, though Harry slowly found himself spending more and more time downstairs with the rest of the family. He felt that it was rude to hide away in his and Louis' shared room, because for one thing, it meant Louis couldn't really spend any time in his own room, as they didn't like to be alone together in the small space. And on top of that, he thought himself a bit rude for staying hidden away when Jay had been so nice as to offer her home to him for over a month.

He started studying downstairs, the sounds of Daisy and Phoebe giggling not distracting him quite as much as he would have expected. He began helping Jay with dinner each night, for which she would thank him profusely, and he'd tell her it was the least he could do to repay her for offering him her home for such an extended period of time. He knew that she and his mother were best mates and had been for ages, but she had five children of her own, so taking in one more had to at least be a bit of an inconvenience, even if she'd never tell him so.

He also just so happened to spend a great deal of time observing Louis' interactions with his younger sisters. It wasn't that he actively seeked them out, wanting to see how they got on. It was just that they were always right there, skipping about or playing Barbies, and sometimes Louis would be having hushed conversations with Lottie, and Harry would wonder what they were discussing.

Each time he saw Louis interacting with one of his younger sisters, Harry's heart swelled. Because this wasn't the Louis he hated. This was a sweet, gentle, caring, older brother Louis, who put his sisters before everything.

As the days passed, Harry wondered why exactly it was that he and Louis hated each other. They'd never gotten on, never since the beginning of his mum and Jay's friendship. There'd practically always been a strong dislike there, and when Harry thought about it, he couldn't pinpoint why.

And every time he saw Louis with his sisters, a little of the hate dissipated, being replaced with something that felt quite like fondness.

000

On Saturday when Harry awoke, he found that it was nearly lunch time. He hadn't intended to sleep so long, but he'd been up late reading in the glow of a flashlight, his mind overwhelming him with too many thoughts for him to be able to sleep easily.

He headed downstairs in his sweatpants and t-shirt, feeling a little more comfortable here after his week long stay. It didn't take him long to warm up to people, especially children, and as his hate for Louis slowly ebbed away, he became more comfortable with the whole household.

He reached the bottom of the steps and scratched his stomach, heading into the living room and plopping down on the couch next to Daisy, who was watching some silly cartoon that Harry vaguely remembered from his own childhood.

Suddenly, Lottie was storming into the room, sighing angrily, as young teen girls do, and Harry gave her a small look of bewilderment. Of the children in the house, she was the one he'd spoken to the least.

"Something the matter?" He asked.

"Everything's the matter!"

Harry was rather certain he heard Daisy sigh, and then she was turning off the telly and quickly fleeing the room. Smart kid, really.

"You can talk to me, if you'd like." Harry offered lamely.

"I've got my best friend's birthday party in an hour and Louis' not home to do my hair like he promised he'd be and mum's too busy cleaning and wrapping the present that I'm meant to take with me and I hate them both."

"Hey, that's not nice." Harry said, trying to defend Jay (And maybe Louis, though he'd never admit it, because he was supposed to hate him, too). "What exactly is it that you want done with your hair?"

"Well, there's this boy who's going to be there, and I really like him." Lottie began shyly. "So I wanted something sort of elegant that would look nice with my dress, but I don't know what. I just really want him to notice me, so I thought if my hair was nice then maybe he would." She let out a deep sigh.

"Alright." Harry said. "First of all, boys shouldn't be judging you solely by your hair. But, that being said, I think I know just the thing for you."

"You do?" Lottie asked, sounding astonished.

"I do." Harry nodded affirmatively. "I've got an older sister who used to force me into giving her makeovers practically once a week. Once you've done a shit job...Er, a bad job. Sorry. Once you've done a bad job enough times, you start actually learning how to do things properly. I felt quite accomplished when Gemma came to me to style her hair for prom instead of going to some fancy salon that would charge her way too much."

"Well, what is it then?!" Lottie asked, smiling widely.

"I think you're in need of a fishtail braid, my dear Lottie."

"A what?"

"You've never heard of a fishtail braid before?"

"No." Lottie shook her head. "Could you give me one, though?"

"Of course. Have you got a hair tie?"

Lottie held up a simple black hair tie, and Harry patted the seat next to him on the couch, signaling for her to come over and sit down. She made her way over, plopping down on the couch next to him and looking at him expectantly.

"Turn around. You can't be facing me, silly."

Lottie quickly turned herself 'round so that her back was to Harry, and he took the hair tie from her, slipping it around his wrist before pulling all of her hair back behind her shoulders. She handed him a brush which she'd been holding in her left hand, and he took it, running it through her hair. It'd been a while since Gemma had had him do anything like this, and he'd missed it.

"Alright." Harry said, taking chunks of hair and weaving them together. "So this one's a nice look if you're aiming to get a stupid boy's attention, because it's rather unique. It's very eye catching, I think, and it's a tad sophisticated while still being young, you know?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but are you gay?"

Harry chuckled, "That obvious, huh?"

"Just...Louis isn't even this good with hair, and he's one of the most gay guys I know." Lottie laughed.

"Wish I could break the stereotype and tell you I'm straight, but I'm definitely gay." Harry said, quickly moving his nimble fingers along, finishing up the braid and tying it off with the hair tie. "All done."

Lottie sprang up, running to the downstairs bathroom to take a look in the mirror, and Harry heard a soft shriek, and then quick footsteps heading back in his direction.

"It's so lovely, Harry!" Lottie squealed. "Thank you!"

"No problem." Harry beamed back at her, feeling more at home now than he had since he'd first arrived here one week ago.

"I've gotta go show mum!" Lottie shouted, running off to show her mother.

Harry sat back, turning on the telly and flipping through the channels, when suddenly Fizzy was running into the room, plopping down next to Harry and shouting at him, "Give me a salmon braid!"

"A what?" Harry asked, momentarily perplexed. "You mean a fishtail braid?"

"Is that what you gave Lottie?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded.

"I want one! Please, Harry. Pleasepleaseplease."

"Alright, alright. Hand me the hair brush and turn around." Harry instructed, and she did as she was told. "Have you got a hair tie?"

Fizzy nodded, handing him her hair tie, which he put around his wrist. As he was brushing her hair, Jay came into the room, followed by Lottie.

"I've got to get Lottie to that birthday party and run a few errands. Will you be alright alone with the girls until Lou gets home, or shall I bring them with me?"

"I'll be fine with them here." Harry smiled.

"Alright." Jay nodded. "Daisy! Phoebe, love, get in here!" The girls skittered in from wherever they'd been hiding around the house. "I'm going out, so you stay in here with Harry and Fizz and you two be good, alright?"

They both nodded, and Jay gave them each a kiss on the head before they scrambled into a chair, sitting half on top of each other, and turning on some old episode of Scooby Doo.

"Thanks for doing Lottie's hair for me, Harry. You're a life saver."

"Anytime." Harry smiled.

"We'll be back in a few hours. Try not to let them destroy the house. I'm sure Louis'll help you out when he gets home from wherever he's run off to."

"Sure thing."

"Bye, Harry!" Lottie called as they walked towards the door. "Thanks again for my fishtail braid!"

And then the door shut, and they were gone. Harry resumed brushing through Fizzy's hair, and then went on to execute another perfect fishtail braid, with only minimal complaints of him tugging too hard on her hair. Once he was done, she ran to the nearest mirror to examine herself, giving out a similar shriek of excitement to the one Lottie had presented him with just a bit earlier.

"I want a fishytail braid!" Daisy shouted.

"Me too!" Phoebe said. "Give me braids like a fish, Harry! Please?"

Harry chuckled, "Alright, you two. Get over here."

They scrambled over, and Harry took his time getting all the tangles out, the twins having been cursed with typical young girl hair. In that it was very easily tangled, and they wasted no time in doing so.

Harry finished Phoebe's braid nice and quick, seeing as the twin's hair was a bit shorter than the older girls', and he was working on Daisy's when the front door opened, and Louis made his way inside.

"What's this?" He asked.

Harry shrugged, "You weren't here to do Lottie's hair before that birthday party of hers, so I offered to take your place. Then your sisters all saw what I'd done and wanted matching hair styles." Harry almost chuckled, thinking for a second that perhaps he should become a hair stylist and call his shop Harry Styles' Hair Styles, but he pressed his lips together firmly, not wanting anyone to ask why he was laughing, because it was quite dumb in actuality.

"He's quite brilliant." Fizzy said. "Look at what he's done!"

"What is that?" Louis asked. "Quite original, yeah?"

"It's a fishytail braid, Louis!" Daisy shouted as Harry tied off the end of hers, finishing up.

"Yeah, he's put fishtails on our heads!" Phoebe laughed. "It's silly."

"A fishytail braid?" Louis raised an eyebrow at Harry condescendingly.

"To be fair, it's technically just a fishtail braid. Gem taught me how to do them so I could do her hair up for her when mum was too busy."

Louis nodded, humming to make it clear that he'd heard him.

"Have the girls eaten?" Louis asked.

Harry simply shrugged. He had no idea.

"Nope." Fizz shook her head.

"I want lunch, Lou Lou!" Daisy whined.

"You girls know I'm horrible with cooking. When's mum back?"

"Not for a few hours." Harry said. "I'll make the lunch. You keep the girls busy."

"Are you sure?" Louis asked, and Harry couldn't help but notice that this was the most they'd spoken in one day since he'd arrived.

"Positive."

Harry made his way into the kitchen, finding a few boxes of macaroni and cheese and whipping them up real quick, bringing plates out into the living room so they could all eat and watch Scooby Doo together, though he made sure that he and Louis were on either end of the couch, the three young girls between them.

000

By the time Jay and Lottie arrived back from Lottie's friend's party, Harry was putting the finishing touches on dinner, and Jay made her way into the kitchen, sighing with relief at the fact that she wouldn't have to slave over a hot stove after she'd just spent hours and hours running errands.

"Thank you so much." Jay smiled. "Why can't my own kids be so helpful?"

"They probably would be, if they were staying at someone else's place."

"Very insightful." Jay nodded.

She then went off to tell the kids to wash up, and Harry served up the meal.

They all gathered 'round the table, and Harry sat next to Lottie rather than in his usual seat, because she'd insisted he do so. Apparently she had a story she wanted to tell him or something like that.

Once they were all sitting down and eating, the table broke off into various conversations, as seemed to be common in this household. But Harry generally wasn't part of any of them, aside from a few questions from Jay about school.

Today, however, Lottie scooted her chair close to his, and simply leaned in and said, "Thanks for the fancy new hair style. We have more to talk about later. Come up to my room after dinner, please, Harry, please. I've got a really good story."

It felt nice, being included like this, and so Harry nodded, "'Course."

Lottie clapped happily and scooted her chair away from him, digging into the food he'd made.

After dinner was over, everyone went their separate ways, and Harry ended up making his way up to Lottie's room, because he figured whatever her story was, she'd seemed eager to tell him.

"Close the door!" She said as he set foot inside.

He nodded, closing the door behind him and standing there awkwardly. It wasn't like he felt creepy or anything. He was gay, it wasn't like anyone would be suspicious of his intent in Lottie's room. He just felt slightly awkward. Where did one sit in a teenage girl's bedroom?

"Come sit in that chair and shut up because boy have I got a story for you!" She said.

Harry chuckled. Just this afternoon they'd had yet to really have a proper conversation, and now she was treating him like he was her best girl friend. Not that he minded at all. Quite honestly, he was intrigued about this story.

"Before I start." She said. "I can trust you not to tell mum and Lou this, right?"

"So long as you aren't in any danger, yeah." Harry nodded.

Lottie scoffed, "There's no danger here."

"Then absolutely. You can trust me."

Lottie nodded, sitting on her knees on her bed and facing him, moving around a bit in an excited manner.

"So, at my friend's party today, her mum and dad were gone, right? And so we were playing spin the bottle, and when it was my turn I just was hoping with all of my heart that I'd land on Adam, and that I'd definitely not land on Timothy, because he drinks ketchup at lunch. So I spun, and guess what!"

"You got Adam?!" Harry asked, ashamed of himself for just how excited he was about this.

"Yeah!" Lottie squealed. "But then guess what happened after that!"

"I haven't a clue."

"Well, obviously we kissed, because we had to. But then after we were done with the game, Adam came up to me, and he said 'That's a really nice braid you've got there. It looks soft like your lips. Um, you're Lottie, right?', and I tried to stay calm but I think a little squeaked slipped out and I said ''Course I'm Lottie! And you're Adam.' but that seemed a little creepy, so I added a 'Right?' onto the end."

"Go on." Harry said, nodding a bit.

"And he said, 'Well, it was really nice kissing you, Lottie. I know I've seen you 'round at school, but there's just something different about you today. You seem more confident.' And you know what, I was more confident. And it was all because of my hair, because sometimes it can be a bit stubborn and even when Louis does his best it looks a mess, but you made it look perfect. And so I said, 'Gee, thanks.' and then he asked if I'd like to go to the cinema with him next weekend and I said yes!"

"You got yourself a date?!" Harry asked.

"Yeah. All thanks to you."

Harry shook his head, "Nah, it was all you, Lottie. My magical hair styling skills may have helped to give you a confidence boost, but in the end it was all you, yeah?"

Lottie shrugged.

"It was." Harry told her. "How come you don't want anyone else to know about this?"

"If mum or Lou knew I'd been playing spin the bottle I'd be grounded until I turned thirty. I'll tell them about the date soon enough, but I wanted to tell the whole story to someone, and since it's all thanks to you, I wanted you to be the person I told."

Harry smiled widely, "Thanks for confiding in me, Lottie. I'm glad you felt like you could trust me."

"I know we don't know each other very well, but you feel a bit like a brother to me." Lottie shrugged, coming over to him and giving him a hug. "Thanks."

Harry felt his heart swell at that, hugging her back, "Anytime, Lottie."

Lottie pulled away from the hug, "I'm going to get some reading done now, I think."

"Alright." Harry nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow or something."

Lottie nodded, and Harry left the room.

000

By the time bedtime rolled around, Harry was exhausted. That was the most time he'd spent interacting with the Tomlinson family since he'd started staying with them, and they were a rather tiring bunch.

He slipped under the covers of the bottom bunk and closed his eyes, prepared to fall asleep quickly. But, of course, Louis would pick the day that Harry was actually certain he'd be falling asleep without the awkward 'not asleep not saying anything' phase, Louis decided to talk to him.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?" Harry hummed, slightly annoyed.

"I, um...I just wanted to thank you."

"Thank me for what?" Harry asked.

He heard shuffling on the bunk above him, and when Louis began to speak again, his voice was louder, so Harry opened his eyes and saw Louis hanging over the edge of the bunk.

"For doing Lottie's hair today when I was too shit of a brother to remember to be home. I was out playing football with my mates." Louis sighed heavily.

"It's not a problem." Harry said. "I liked doing it."

"Still, just...Thank you." Louis smiled. "You know, she told me over sundaes that she got a date out of it. I told her I didn't think the hair was all that important in the grand scheme of things, but she insisted it was the hair."

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, she told me about that as well."

"Is that where you two disappeared to after dinner?"

Harry nodded before realizing that Louis probably couldn't see him well enough in the dark to know what he was doing.

"Yeah." He added.

"Damn." Louis said thoughtfully. "I used to be the only one with the privilege of secret Lottie conversations."

"Sorry, mate." Harry said.

"No, no." Louis said dismissively. "It's fine. Just...You must be really great. Lottie's picky about who she associates with."

"I try." Harry shrugged.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"How come we hate each other?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, his heart quickening a bit.

"Just...Exactly what I said. Why do we hate each other?"

"I dunno, really. It's just...We always have, haven't we?"

"But why? What was the reasoning? We hardly know anything about each other."

"I think it's just...When I first met you, I just sensed that you didn't like me, and we didn't talk that day, and then we just...We just never tried to get to know each other, and I had this weird sense that you didn't want to get to know me, so I developed an aversion to knowing you, and eventually that all developed into hatred on both sides?" Harry suggested. "Unwarranted hate, I think."

"You mean my hate for you was unwarranted?"

"I mean the hate from both of us was unwarranted." Harry corrected him.

"Oh." Louis said softly, and then Harry heard him lay back down, and he assumed they were going to go to sleep now. But a few moments later, Louis spoke again. "So you don't hate me anymore?"

"...No." Harry said softly. So softly, in fact, that he wondered if Louis could even hear him.

"Why not?" Louis replied, just as softly.

"Because...Just...After seeing you with your sisters, the way you get on so well, and how nice you are to your mum...I still avoided you at school, you know, but after a while I started watching you from a distance, when you passed by at the other end of the hall, and I noticed that you were one of the good guys, I guess. You don't bully people, and I saw you helping a younger kid with glasses who'd dropped his books yesterday. And I realized that you aren't any of the things that I hate. You're just Louis. You're just someone I judged too quickly based on nothing but a bad vibe the first day I met you."

Louis was silent for a while before saying, "I think I disliked you for the same reason. I wonder which one of us started it. Like...One of us had to be moody first, and then we gave off that vibe, and so the other one of us decided we didn't like the other, and it just caused that whole mess. I wonder which one of us caused it." He mused. "But I don't hate you either. I never did, really. I don't often hate people, and I don't think you do either or you wouldn't have come 'round so quickly. I think we're both just a bit daft." Louis chuckled.

Harry chuckled along with him, "I think I agree with you on that one."

"Want to come to the park with me and the girls tomorrow? I'm sure they'd love that."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." Harry let out a loud yawn. "I'm going to get some sleep now, okay? Your sisters wore me out today."

"Try living with them every day of your life." Louis chuckled. "Get some sleep, Harry."

"'Night, Louis."

They both slipped into silence, then, and in moments, they were both fast asleep.

000

When Harry awoke, he felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and that was when he remembered the conversation he'd had with Louis last night, and their plans to go to the park with the girls today.

He stretched his arms out, yawning loudly, and heard a creak as Louis made a startled jump in the bed above him.

"Must you yawn so loudly?" He asked. "You scared me and I nearly fell off the bed."

Harry wanted to comment on how amusing that would've been. That's what he would have said if one of his mates had nearly fallen off a bed. But he didn't know if he and Louis were exactly mates as of yet, and he didn't want to push it and give Louis a real reason to hate him.

"Sorry."

"It's alright." Louis said, hopping down from his bunk. "The girls are up, I've heard them skittering around. I figured we could pack a picnic and take them to the park for some lunch and maybe fly a kite?"

"I've never flown a kite before, but it sounds like fun." Harry said.

"You what?!"

"I've...I've never flown a kite?"

"That's insanity." Louis shook his head. "We're definitely teaching you how to, then. In repayment for that, you can make the lunch, because I'm absolutely shit at making anything even remotely resembling food."

Harry chuckled, and he was rather happy at how easily and quickly things between him and Louis had gone from being heated and tense to being friendly. He was glad things had worked out like this. It would make the rest of his stay here much more enjoyable.

"Alright. Sounds like a deal."

Harry left the room to change. He didn't really have a problem with changing in front of Louis, but he was worried that Louis might have a problem with it.

After he changed his clothes, he dropped his sweats and t-shirt off in his and Louis' room, and then made his way downstairs. He sat in the living room with the girls, watching the telly and chatting amicably until he figured he ought to start working on making their picnic lunch.

He made a few different kinds of sandwiches, not sure what anyone in this family liked, but hoping he had enough variety that everyone would be happy. He then whipped up a rather quick and easy pasta salad, as well as a thermos of lemonade.

"Alright!" Harry said, coming into the living room with a picnic basket in his hand. "Who's ready for a day at the park?"

Daisy and Phoebe squealed in delight, and Lottie and Fizzy smiled excitedly. Louis popped up with a kite in his hands, and then the six of them were off. Harry held the picnic basket in one hand, and Daisy's hand in the other, while Louis had a kite in one hand, and Phoebe's hand in the other, while Lottie and Fizzy skipped along ahead of them.

The walk to the park took a little longer than was probably necessary, because the little ones kept stopping to pick up rocks and bugs, and occasionally Daisy would tug on Harry's hand so hard that he nearly fell over, balance never really having been his strong suit.

Once they made it to the park, they found a nice little picnic table and Harry set out all of the food that he'd made, and they munched away on it happily, Daisy sitting in his lap, and Phoebe in Louis'.

"You're a great chef!" Phoebe shouted from just across the table, causing Harry to laugh a little.

"I'm far from being a chef, but thanks, babes."

"I agree with Pheebs, though." Louis said.

"Oh, shut it."

"I'm serious, though."

Harry smiled brightly and continued eating his food.

Once they'd all had their fill, Harry packed what was left back into the basket and they left it on the table, everyone dragging him off to learn how to fly a kite. Louis gave him a few examples, running with the kite to get it up into the wind. It looked easy enough.

Harry soon learned, however, that it was much more difficult than it looked. After about twenty minutes of running around like an idiot, watching the kite nose-dive every time, Harry was about to give up.

They wouldn't let him, though, and Fizzy showed him a few techniques that worked a lot better than what he'd been trying, and he finally managed to get the kite up off the ground, sailing it around for a few minutes solid before it fell back to the earth.

"Good job, Harry!" Louis said, patting him on the back.

All of the girls crowded around him, giving him congratulations, and he felt a bit like a child, but in the best way possible.

After that they made their way over to the playground, and Harry and Louis pushed Daisy and Phoebe on the swings while Lottie and Fizzy took turns pushing each other. Every once in a while, Harry would look over, finding Louis' gaze on him, but Louis quickly turned away each time, and Harry figured it was probably better that way, lest they end up making any awkward eye contact.

Once the girls were worn out and Harry and Louis were both so tired they thought they might collapse, they all headed back to the Tomlinson household. When they arrived back, they all flopped down on various furniture and places on the floor and just sort of stayed there, everyone worn out from their long day of running around outside.

000

That night when he and Louis were both snuggled comfortably under the sheets, it was Harry's turn to start a conversation.

"Hey, Louis?"

"Yeah, Harry?"

"I had a really great time today."

"I'm glad." Louis said, and Harry could hear the smile in his voice. "I wish I'd known I didn't hate you before now. We could've been having so much fun the whole time you were here."

"We've still got three weeks left." Harry said.

"That we do. That we do."

"Goodnight, Louis."

"Sleep tight, Harry."

000

The next week went by much more easily than the first. They talked to each other on the way to school instead of sitting in awkward silence. They did their homework together and chatted with each other and played with the girls together. They stopped avoiding each other at school, though they did both stay in their respective group of friends, not venturing out of their way to spend time with each other, but saying hello whenever they passed in the halls.

They stayed up later than they probably should on school nights, just chatting in their bunks. They talked about anything and everything, from childhood to their future plans. Their coming out stories, their favorite books and films. They talked about their families and their friends and their dreams, and Harry really really liked it.

He might even go so far as to say that he really liked Louis.

000

It was a Saturday night now, and he and Louis were each lying in their respective bunks. Harry had been out with friends all day, and so he hadn't seen any of the Tomlinson bunch, aside from dinner really. After dinner the girls had all flocked to their rooms, and Harry had picked up a book and sat down to read, and he hadn't stopped until his eyes were foggy with sleep.

Harry's eyes were fluttering open and shut as he tried to fall asleep, his brain flooding with thoughts when he'd really rather it just be empty.

He was thinking about how much he'd missed Louis when he was out with his friends today. He'd missed everyone in the Tomlinson clan, really, but he'd missed Louis the most. And he'd missed him in a different way. The feelings were stronger and...Different, somehow.

"What's up?" He heard Louis ask softly.

"What do you mean?"

"You're quiet, but it's a funny kind of quiet. Sort of like when you first started staying here, but not quite as awkward. More thoughtful."

Harry wondered how exactly Louis had gotten all of that just from his silence, but decided not to question it.

"C'mon." Louis prompted. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"It's nothing, really."

"But it is something." Louis said. "I can sense it. Don't question me."

"Just...Things."

Louis was silent for a moment then, and Harry thought that he was going to drop it, but then he heard rustling, and then Louis was jumping down off of his bunk and crawling into Harry's, slipping under the covers next to him.

"Um...Louis?"

"Tell me what's on your mind."

He couldn't. He absolutely could not tell Louis that what was on his mind was Louis himself. And especially not when Louis was now lying in the same bed as him. That would be creepy and weird and he couldn't do it.

"Harry, you can trust me. We're friends now, yeah?"

"Yeah." Harry agreed.

"So, tell me. What's on your mind?"

Harry took a deep breath, bracing himself to force out one simple word, "You."

"Me?" Louis breathed.

"Yeah, you."

"What about me?"

Harry shook his head.

"Oh, c'mon." Louis said. "You can't just tell me that you're being all pensive about me and then not tell me what it is. Did I have something stuck in my teeth at dinner? Did I wear a dirty shirt to school yesterday?"

If Harry hadn't been freaking out, he might have laughed at that.

"Just...Just that I missed you today."

"Because you were out with your friends?"

Harry made a little affirmative humming noise.

"Well, I missed you, too."

"Somehow I think it's different." Harry told him.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Harry breathed out, rolling over onto his side and facing the wall.

He hadn't expected the older lad to turn over on his side as well, spooning Harry just a bit and resting his head on his shoulder, but that was exactly what Louis did.

"Do you like me, Harry?"

"I thought we'd already established that." Harry said, his heartbeat pounding loudly in his ears.

"No, not like that. I mean do you fancy me?"

"What would make you think that?" Harry asked, trying to slow his erratic heartbeat, nearly certain that Louis could feel it.

"Because you said the way you missed me was different from the way I missed you, but I think you're wrong."

"And you fancy me?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Louis said simply.

"Oh." Harry said, shocked at how calmly he'd said it. "You...Oh."

"So, do you fancy me then, Harry? Yea or nay?"

"Who even says yea or nay anymore?" Harry chuckled.

"Answer the question."

"Yea. Er...Yes. Yeah, I do."

"I was hoping so." Louis said, nuzzling a little closer to Harry.

"That's it then?"

"What's what?" Louis asked.

Harry felt dizzy. He wasn't sure what was going on, "I, um...I'm not sure?"

"No matter. I'm sleeping here tonight, okay? You're cozy."

"O-okay, yeah. You're cozy, too."

"G'night, Harry."

"'Night, Lou."

000

When Harry awoke the next morning, he was highly confused. There were arms wrapped around him, and it took him a while to register that they belonged to Louis. Once it sunk in, though, his eyes flew open, and his heart began to pound in his chest a bit.

He slowly turned around in Louis' arms, finding that the older boy was already awake.

"Morning."

"Good morning." Harry said.

"You're nice to sleep with." Louis said, before a slightly shocked expression graced his face, and he quickly said, "That came out wrong. I just...I meant it's nice to sleep in the same bed with you? You're nice to hold. I...I like cuddling with you."

Harry chuckled, "I knew what you meant, Lou."

"Oh. Good, then."

"And I like cuddling with you, too, for the record. It's nice."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Harry nodded a little, and Louis leaned forward, resting his forehead against Harry's.

Just then, Harry's phone began to ring, and he scrambled over Louis and off the bed, picking his phone up from Louis' desk where he'd left it.

"H'lo?"

"Harry! It's mum."

"Oh, hey, mum." Harry smiled. He'd had a few excited texts from Gemma about one uni or the other, but other than that he hadn't heard from either of them since they'd left.

"How are things with the Tomlinson's?" Anne asked him.

"Great, actually." Harry said, smiling.

"Told you you'd have a lovely time."

"Mhhm." Harry hummed. "The girls really love me, and the feeling is mutual. Louis and I are friends now as well. And Jay's just as lovely as she's always been."

"Finally."

"Finally what?" Harry questioned.

"You and Louis becoming mates. You've only known each other for forever."

"Exaggeration, mum. But yeah, I suppose it was high time."

"I'm glad you're having a good time, Harry." Anne said. "I've got to get going. Gemma and I have a meeting with some board members here soon and I want to look nice. I'll try to remember to check in soon."

"Alright. You and Gem have a good time."

"I'm sure we will." She told him. "I love you."

"I love you, too, mum. Bye."

"Bye, sweetie."

Harry hung up the phone, setting it back on the desk and returning to his bunk, flopping down on his back next to Louis.

"High time for what?" Louis asked, snuggling up against Harry again, causing him to smile widely.

"For us to be friends."

Louis hummed in agreement, "What do you say we have a lazy morning and cuddle for a while, friend?"

Harry grinned, "I say that sounds fantastic."

Louis wrapped his arms around Harry and rested his head on his shoulder, and Harry sighed happily.

"Hey, Lottie's date with that guy was yesterday, wasn't it?"

"It was." Louis confirmed.

"How'd it go? I was out and she didn't tell me anything about it after I got home."

"They're officially boyfriend and girlfriend now." Louis chuckled. "Relationships move insanely quickly at that age."

"I suppose that's true." Harry mused. "I hope things go well for them."

"They're young. They'll probably break up twelve times in the next week. But yeah, I hope so, too."

Harry fell silent after that, and Louis began tracing little patterns across his stomach with his fingertips, and Harry held back a shiver at the sensation. After a while, he spoke.

"Hey, Louis?"

"Hmm?" Louis hummed, his breath ghosting along Harry's neck.

"Never mind." Harry said.

He'd wanted to ask them what they were. What this was. But if they weren't anything, he was afraid he'd ruin whatever it was they had going on, and he didn't want that. He liked being wrapped up in Louis' arms. He felt safe here.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's nothing."

"If you insist." Louis sighed. "I'm nearly certain the girls will have devoured all of breakfast by now. Come make me something to eat."

Louis shoved Harry towards the edge of the bed, and he wobbled precariously before falling off with a thud.

"Ow!"

"Oh, that didn't hurt, you baby. C'mon, I'm starving."

"You've bruised my arse, I'm sure of it." Harry said, rubbing his backside a little as he stood up.

Louis snorted.

"Oi, get your mind out of the gutter, Tomlinson."

"Can't." Louis said, practically skipping out of the room and down the stairs.

Harry followed him into the kitchen, grabbing out a pan and a few eggs, opting for some simple scrambled eggs, because if he was being honest, he didn't feel like doing much today.

He could feel Louis' eyes on him as he cooked, and normally that would have made him uncomfortable, but with Louis he didn't really mind.

When the eggs were ready he served them up onto two plates and set one down in front of Louis, sitting next to him at the table rather than as far away as he could, like he usually did. As they were eating, Lottie made her way into the room, plopping down in the chair on Harry's right.

"Harry! I've just realized I didn't tell you about how things went with Adam."

Harry grinned a bit at Louis, already knowing the good news of the story, before turning back to Lottie to hear it from her himself.

"Go on, then."

"He's asked me to be his girlfriend! His real actual girlfriend! Can you believe it?!"

"Of course I can believe it. He'd be stupid not to ask you." Harry smiled at her fondly.

"It's all thanks to your hair styling skills, though, really."

"I'm still not convinced of that." Harry chuckled.

"Oi, neither am I. If my hair styles couldn't hook you a boyfriend, how come Harry's can?"

"Harry's just better at it than you." Lottie said, with a small laugh.

"Hey! He is not!"

"Alright, children, let's not fight." Harry said, teasingly.

"You are not better than me." Louis grumbled, taking an angry bite of his eggs.

"Sure I'm not." Harry laughed.

After that, they spent the rest of the day sitting next to each other on a pile of pillows on Louis' floor, sitting a bit closer than was probably necessary as they got their homework done for school tomorrow. They sat next to each other at dinner, and Jay seemed to notice how close they'd gotten, but she didn't mention it. She was probably just glad, like Harry's own mother, that he and Louis were getting on nicely now.

Before bed they took turns getting showers, and Harry let Louis go first, so by the time he made his way into their room, he expected Louis to be asleep. On the contrary, however, the lights were on, and he was sitting in his bunk, his headphones in, and his head bobbing to the beat of whatever he was listening to.

As Harry made his way into the room, however, Louis pulled his headphones out, smiling at the younger lad.

"Hello!" He said cheerily.

Harry chuckled a little, "Hey."

He threw his towel onto the back of a chair, after drying his hair with it a bit, and climbed into the bottom bunk.

Louis turned the light off and settled down in the bunk above him, but Harry could sense that he wasn't ready to sleep yet. He sort of wished he'd climb down there and cuddle with him, or ask him to come up there, but he didn't want to ask if they could cuddle, just because he didn't really know what their boundaries were yet. Maybe Louis didn't want to cuddle.

"I think Lottie likes you more than me." Louis said matter of factly.

"Don't be stupid. You're her brother."

"Yeah, so she has to like me. She chooses to like you."

"She does not have to like you, trust me. You two have got a really great relationship."

"Still, you stole her affections from me."

Harry wanted to tell Louis that he may have stolen Lottie's affections from him, but Louis had gained Harry's own affections. However that was yet another thing that he wasn't sure would be appropriate to say.

"You'll have her affections back soon enough, Lou. Go to sleep."

Louis huffed out a sigh, but did as Harry had suggested, shutting up and re-situating himself to be able to get to sleep.

000

The next week passed by rather quickly. Harry and Louis occasionally went out of their way to say hi to each other at school, but for the most part, they stayed in their respective group of friends. Though Harry had to admit to missing Louis a bit every once in a while.

Harry helped Jay with dinner each night, and he brushed Daisy's hair before bed while Louis brushed Phoebe's, and Harry was really quite comfortable here, and it was hard to believe that he'd be leaving in just less than two weeks.

It was Friday now, and Harry and Louis were lying in bed, the lights shut off, but neither of them were sleeping, and Harry knew it. There was a certain tenseness in the air around them.

After a while of the two of them lying there, Harry heard Louis hop down off his bunk, and then he was climbing in next to him.

"Would it be creepy to say that I missed cuddling you?" Louis asked, as he wrapped his arms around Harry's torso.

"Not so long as it's not creepy that I missed cuddling you as well." Harry said, a small grin spreading across his face.

"Not creepy at all." Louis said.

"Good." Harry smiled.

They both fell silent for a while, and Louis nuzzled his nose against Harry's neck, and Harry could feel his warm breath there, and he really wanted to turn around a bit and kiss the older boy.

"Hey, Harry?" Louis asked softly.

"Yeah?"

"Want to go to the cinema with me tomorrow? Or...Or out for tea? Or, just, anything you like, really."

"Like a date?" Harry asked, his heartbeat speeding up just a bit.

"Yeah, like a date."

"I'd love that." Harry said, smiling.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Um...Tea and a film after lunch?"

"Sounds brilliant."

"Yeah?"

Harry chuckled, "Yes, Louis."

Louis gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and Harry had to resist making a small little squeaking sound in the back of his throat.

"Let's get some rest, then. I need beauty sleep if I'm going on a date."

"Louis, I've seen you when you've just woken up, I don't think I'm very picky when it comes to you."

"I look brilliant when I've just woken up, thank you very much." Louis said haughtily.

"That you do." Harry smiled, taking one of Louis' hands in his and lifting it from his own stomach up to his lips, giving it a gentle kiss.

"You're going to make me blush, you idiot."

Harry simply grinned, "Go to sleep, Lou."

"Alright, fine. 'Night, Harry."

"G'night."

000

The next day, Harry and Louis stayed in Harry's bunk cuddling until lunch time, at which point they went downstairs and ate some pasta that Jay had made, and then they scurried off to their room, both of them getting dressed.

"It's weird getting ready for a date in the same room as your date." Harry mused. "I feel like you're watching me."

"I'm hardly watching you, Harry. I'm much too concerned with making sure I don't look like an idiot."

"You'll look great in anything you wear." Harry told him.

"You flatter me."

"Only because you deserve it." Harry smiled at him as he dug through his drawers.

Harry ended up choosing a pair of simple black skinny jeans and a plain white t-shirt. It wasn't like they were going anywhere fancy, and this outfit had always looked nice on him, if he did say so himself.

He opted to not leave the room to change, and just did so as quickly as possible. By the time he was done, Louis was changed as well, wearing light blue jeans and and a dark blue short sleeved button up. He looked quite nice. Not that he ever didn't look nice.

Harry shook his hair out, pushing it off to the side and out of his face, and then he sat down on his bed, waiting for Louis to style his hair. He'd noticed that the older boy took quite a while with it, when he had the time, but it was actually ridiculous how long it was taking him today.

"Lou, you look fine."

"It's got to be perfect, Harry."

"You really don't need to work so hard to impress me. I've been living in your house for three weeks now, I think it's safe to say that if a mediocre appearance from you was going to make me decide you weren't the one for me, I would've reached that point already.

"Oh, shove off."

"I'm serious, Louis. Can't we go?"

If Harry was being honest, he really just wanted to get out of there before his nerves could get any worse. He knew that he and Louis both liked each other, and they got on well, and they'd been bonding over the last couple of weeks. But he also knew that going on a date with someone and lounging around the house with someone were two entirely different things, and he wanted Louis to like him.

"Alright, alright, let's go." Louis said.

They made their way down the stairs, and Louis told his mum that he and Harry were going to go hang out. They didn't tell her it was a date because, well, what was the point, really?

Louis grabbed his car keys, and they headed off to the cinema. Harry had said they should go see the film first, mostly so he could make sure to have something interesting to say while they drank their tea.

They ended up seeing some dumb comedy, and by the time it was over, Harry realized it didn't give him too much to say. The tea shop happened to be in the same little area of shops that the cinema resided, and so they walked over to the tea shop hand in hand.

They placed their orders and received their tea, and went to sit down. They talked about their favorite characters from the film they'd just seen, and Louis quoted a few of his favorite lines, causing Harry to laugh so hard that he snorted, which normally would have been embarrassing for him, but he really didn't mind in the least, because Louis obviously wasn't judging him for it.

Harry had been so busy talking that he'd forgotten to drink his tea, and it had gotten quite cold, but he drank it anyway, because it didn't matter, because he was here with Louis and they were having fun together.

After that they went home and played with Daisy and Phoebe until dinner time, and once dinner was over Lottie regaled them with stories of how things were going with her and Adam, and how she was pretty sure they were going to be together forever, and Harry smiled, because young love was a really great and innocent thing, and he was so happy that Lottie was happy. He felt like an older brother to her, and it was nice to know that she seemed to feel the same way.

When it was late and Harry and Louis were both tired, Louis summoned Harry up to join him in the top bunk for the night, because he really preferred it up there, and so Harry climbed up and snuggled in behind Louis, taking the position of the big spoon for once. He wrapped his arms around Louis' waist and kissed him on the top of the head.

"Want to be my boyfriend?"

"What?" Harry asked, slightly taken aback by how blunt and almost childlike the question had been.

"You heard me, Styles."

"Yeah."

"Yeah you heard me, or yeah you want to?"

"Both."

And before Harry really knew what was happening, Louis was turning around in his arms to face him, leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss to his lips. Harry closed his eyes, letting the feeling of it wash over him. Louis' lips were soft, and they tasted a little like mint, because they'd both brushed their teeth not long ago, and it was kind of absolutely perfect.

Louis pulled back, a wide grin on his face, "Minty."

Harry laughed, shoving at Louis' chest playfully, and then the two of them wrapped their arms around each other, resting their foreheads together and drifting off to sleep with content smiles on their faces.

000

On Sunday they spent most of the day lazing around the house, playing with the girls and sitting far enough apart that no one would suspect anything, but close enough together that they didn't feel like they were separated.

Harry and Louis had talked a bit that morning and decided to keep their relationship a secret for now, but Harry had talked Louis into letting him tell Lottie, because he was the first person she told about her date with Adam (and the only one who knew about the game of spin the bottle) so he figured it was only fair to return the favor.

So when they sat down for dinner, Harry made sure to sit between Lottie and Louis. As Jay was serving up dinner, he leaned over and whispered to Lottie, "Meet me in Lou's and my room after dinner. I've got a story for you."

"Won't Louis be in the way?" Lottie whispered back.

"Nah, he's got plans to play with the girls. And on top of that, he already knows the story, so it's no secret from him."

Lottie nodded, and Jay finished serving up dinner, sitting down as everyone dug in. The table erupted in various conversations, and Harry just sat back, listening intently.

He'd always loved his small family, but there'd always been a part of him that had wanted a big family, and so the time he'd spent here had been wonderful once he'd gotten comfortable, and it was hard to think that in just ten days he'd be gone.

But then he remembered that he and Louis were together now, and so for as long as that lasted, he was certain he'd be spending a lot more time around here. He hoped it lasted for a good long while.

When dinner was over, Harry helped Jay clear the dishes while everyone went their separate ways, and then he made his way upstairs, finding Lottie waiting patiently in his bunk, her legs criss-crossed and a look of intrigued excitement on her face.

Harry grabbed the desk chair and pulled it over in front of the bed, sitting down on it, "Ready for the story?"

"Obviously." Lottie said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not sure where to start." Harry hummed thoughtfully to himself. "I suppose I could just skip the story and come right out with it."

"Whatever!" Lottie said. "Just tell me, Harry!"

"Alright, alright." Harry laughed. "Lou and I are dating."

"You're what?!"

"We're dating."

Lottie cracked a huge smile and then began laughing a bit, "Oh, I knew it! Ever since we met you ages ago I knew this would happen. He always said he hated you, but after our picnic I knew I was going to be right." She shook her head fondly. "Mum's letting you two stay in the same room still?"

"Um, well, she doesn't know yet." Harry said. "We're going to tell her soon enough. I just wanted you to know first, since you told me about you and Adam before you told anyone else." Harry smiled.

"Well, don't I feel special?" She grinned.

"You should." Harry nodded.

"You know, I'm glad you had to come stay with us, Harry. It's nice having two older brothers."

Harry beamed at that, giving Lottie a big hug, "Alright, get out of here, you."

"Don't you and Louis do anything gross in here, or I'll come vomit on your sheets."

"What a lovely mental image that is."

"This is not an empty threat, Styles." Lottie grinned, skipping out of the room.

Harry decided to read for a bit, and so he grabbed his book off the desk, putting the chair back in place, and flopped down on the bed.

He lost track of time, and before he knew it, Louis was coming into the room, yawning loudly.

"I'm sleepy."

Harry looked at the clock, seeing how late it was, and then letting out a yawn of his own, rubbing his eyes, "I'm right there with you."

They both changed into their pajamas and climbed into their respective bunks. After a few minutes, Louis was leaning over the top bunk, and Harry could see the whites of his eyes shining out into the room.

"Yes?" He asked, amused.

"I had wanted to make it a rule that we only cuddle on the weekends, but I'm lonely up here."

"Say no more." Harry said, clambering out of his bunk and climbing up to Louis'.

Louis laid back down properly, and Harry scooted in behind him, his front side flush with Louis' back, and he wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"Better?"

"Much." Louis nodded, letting out a contented little sigh.

"D'you know what Lottie said to me earlier?"

"What?"

"She said we'd better not do anything gross or she'll come puke in our beds."

"Did she really?" Louis asked, laughing.

"She did."

"Well is this gross?" Louis asked, turning around in Harry's arms to face him and giving him a soft kiss on the lips.

"Dunno." Harry shrugged. "Think this is gross?" He asked, leaning in and connecting his lips with Louis', not pulling back right away, their lips moving together slowly.

"I don't think it's gross." Louis shook his head. "Lottie might, though."

"I think she was just afraid we'd start having loud sex in here and she'd hear us."

Louis snorted, "That girl." He shook his head. "As if I'd have sex with you while everyone was home."

"You would have sex with me, though?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I mean, we are dating, aren't we?" Louis asked. "I wouldn't date you if I wasn't interested in doing that with you eventually. Besides, have you seen yourself?"

Harry blushed a little, smiling, "I feel the same way about you."

"I'd hope so." Louis grinned, leaning forward to peck Harry on the lips, and then turning back around so Harry could spoon him properly. "Sleep now."

Harry kissed the back of Louis' neck and then shut his eyes, Louis' rhythmic breathing quickly lulling him to sleep.

000

The next week went by far too quickly for Harry's liking. He and Louis had started venturing out of their groups of friends to eat lunch together, and after a while their friends started to get curious, so they'd all follow along to the lunch table at which Harry and Louis had decided to sit, and so eventually they were just a big group of friends sitting together.

They told them all that they were dating, and both groups of friends laughed for a while, because it wasn't as if no one had known about their dislike for each other. They'd mention it to their friends sometimes, obviously, and so when they announced that they were dating they were berated with quite a bit of teasing, but it was all in good fun, and their friends were supportive of their relationship, so they didn't mind.

It was Saturday now, and Harry's mum and Gemma would be back on Wednesday, so it was his last weekend residing in the Tomlinson household.

He'd spent the afternoon out in the yard playing football with Louis and the girls, as they all laughed at him, because he was quite uncoordinated. Honestly, when Daisy and Phoebe were better than him and they were both wearing dresses, it was pretty apparent that football was not his expertise.

When they came inside, Jay announced that they were all going to go out to dinner as one last huzzah before Harry had to head back home on Wednesday, and Harry insisted that they need not make a big deal out of him, because he was just thankful Jay had let him stay at all, but she insisted, and the girls were excited about going out to eat, so Harry agreed.

They all piled into the car and Jay drove them to some fancy restaurant that Harry had never heard of before, and he was quite certain that they couldn't really afford this, not for so many people. But if Jay wanted to be indulgent, he wasn't going to argue.

They were seated at a large table, and Harry ended up between Louis and Lottie, which had quickly become his favorite place to sit. The waiter came and took their drink orders, and once he left, Jay started talking quietly with the twins about what they wanted to eat, and Louis leaned over, whispering in Harry's ear.

"We should tell everyone."

Harry was confused for a moment, and then leaned in to whisper back, "About us? Now?"

"Once our food gets here, yeah."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." Louis nodded once.

Harry nodded back, and then the waiter was arriving with their drinks, taking their dinner orders. Harry was glad he was last, because he hadn't gotten a chance to look at the menu, and he didn't even know what they served here, so he needed to take a quick look. Once they'd all given the man their orders, he left, telling them he'd be back with their meals shortly, and Harry turned to Lottie, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"Louis and I are going to tell everyone once dinner gets here."

Lottie squeaked a little, quickly whispering back, "Tell everyone you're dating?!"

"Mhhm." Harry hummed with a nod.

"Oh, this is so exciting."

"Stay calm." Harry laughed.

"I'm trying, I'm trying."

Louis grabbed Harry's hand under the table, and they smiled at each other. Jay was talking to Fizzy about some Science project she had due next week, and the twins were speaking to each other in some secret language they'd invented for themselves, and Lottie was looking at Louis and Harry's joined hands under the table and grinning like an idiot, and Harry thought it was kind of funny how quickly Louis' entirely family had embraced him, and he found that he wasn't even nervous to tell them all that he and Louis were together, because he had no fear of rejection or being disliked. It was a really great feeling.

The waiter came back with their food, and they all thanked him, and then he was gone again. Louis looked at Harry, squeezing his hand and giving him a bright smile, and Harry could tell that Lottie was trying to hold back an excited squeak, knowing what was coming next.

Louis clinked his fork against his glass, and Jay looked up.

"Harry and I have something we'd like to say." Louis grinned.

"Go right ahead, love." Jay smiled, cutting Daisy's chicken for her.

"I'd like your full attention, if that's alright, mum."

"Of course." Jay nodded. "Just a second."

"God, mum, hurry up!" Lottie said exasperatedly.

"I need to finish cutting Daisy's chicken, love."

Lottie rolled her eyes and Harry laughed.

"Alright." Jay said, setting down her knife and handing the fork to Daisy. "What is it now?"

Louis stood up, letting go of Harry's hand, and Harry followed suit, standing up next to him.

"Would you like to do the honors, Harry?"

"Sure." Harry grinned. "Um, Louis and I are dating." He smiled brightly.

Lottie threw her fist in the air, and Harry laughed, because it wasn't like this was news to her. Fizzy dropped her fork onto her plate and looked up with excitement in her eyes. Daisy and Phoebe didn't really seem to care, but why should they, really? And Jay was simply smiling brightly at them.

"Anne and I always thought this might happen. I think we secretly hoped for it, really." Jay said. "Congratulations, you two."

"Thanks, mum." Louis smiled, grabbing Harry's hand again as they sat back down.

"You'll be sleeping on the couch until Wednesday, Louis."

"What?" Louis asked, shocked.

Harry had been expecting this, really. If he was a parent he wouldn't want his kid sleeping in the same room as their significant other.

"I can't have you and Harry sleeping in the same room. Who knows what you'll get up to."

"Mum, we-"

"Don't worry, mum, I told them if they did anything gross I'd vomit on their sheets."

Jay held her napkin to her lips to cover up a chuckle, "That won't be necessary, Lottie, dear. Lou's sleeping on the couch."

Louis huffed, "Fine, fine. Alright." He then turned to Harry and whispered, "We should have waited until you'd gone back home to tell."

Harry chuckled, and they all started eating their dinner.

000

That night, Harry climbed into Louis' bunk, partially because he liked the top bunk, and partially because it smelled like Louis up there, and if Louis had to sleep on the couch, he at least wanted to be able to feel as if he was close to him.

As he was drifting off to sleep, his phone vibrated. He picked it up, and it was a text from Louis.

To Harry: I miss you.

And then, before he could respond.

To Harry: I bet you're in the top bunk tonight, aren't you?

To Louis: How did you know? I miss you, too.

To Harry: Because I took your pillow and I figured that if you were in your bunk you would have come down and yelled at me for taking it by now.

To Louis: Clever. Now go to sleep so it can be morning and I can see you again.

To Harry: Okay, okay. 'Night.

To Louis: G'night, Louis.

000

On Sunday, Harry got up and ran downstairs as fast as he could, jumping on a still sleeping Louis, causing him to let out a strangled coughing sound.

"Harry, you could've killed me!"

"Are you calling me fat?" Harry managed to ask through his laughter as he fell off of Louis and onto the floor.

"No, I'm calling you obnoxious."

"Nah, you think I'm great."

"You keep thinking that, Harry."

"I will." Harry grinned.

They made their way into the kitchen, where Jay was working on making breakfast. The girls were gathered around the table, Daisy and Phoebe coloring, and Fizzy and Lottie making charm bracelets.

"Morning." Harry said, as he plopped down in a chair next to Daisy.

"Good morning." Everyone replied.

Harry grabbed a piece of paper from the table and took a crayon from the little pile Daisy had next to her. He began to draw a little picture, and he could feel Louis' eyes on him, so he looked up and saw Louis staring at him fondly.

"You're cute."

Harry blushed, turning back to the picture he was drawing.

"Are you two going to be like this all the time now?" Fizzy asked, ending her question with an over dramatic gagging sound.

"Probably." Louis grinned.

"Yeah, I think so." Harry said.

"Gross." Fizzy said, rolling her eyes.

"I think it's cute." Lottie said. "Adam's hardly ever that cute with me."

"He will be eventually." Harry said. "He's just got to get used to being with someone as lovely as you."

"Louis, I'm replacing you with Harry." Lottie said, matter of factly.

"You see!" Louis said, looking at Harry. "You see, I told you this was going to happen."

Jay chuckled, bringing the pan full of eggs over to the table and serving them up onto everyone's plates, sitting down to eat her own breakfast.

The girls and Harry each set down their respective crafts and set to eating.

After breakfast Jay cleared everyone's plates and then went off somewhere to clean or something, Harry assumed. He resumed coloring with the younger girls, and Louis took to making charm bracelets with the elder girls.

After a while, Harry was handing Louis a drawing he'd just done, and at the exact same time, Louis was handing Harry a braided yarn charm bracelet with "H + L" written on it in beads. Harry grinned and put the bracelet on, and Louis took a look at the picture Harry had drawn.

It was a picture of the Tomlinson family, with Harry and Louis standing in the middle. It was just stick figures and it felt a lot like a primary school project-esque drawing, but Louis was grinning at it widely, so Harry thought it must be alright.

"This is adorable." Louis said. "I'm putting it on the fridge."

"Really, Lou?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "I already felt like a child bringing a stupid drawing home from school."

"Hush. It's not stupid. Mum'll love it."

Harry smiled as Louis put his dumb little drawing up on the fridge.

A while later Harry packed up another picnic, and Louis and Harry dragged the girls down to the park, Daisy and Phoebe climbing all over him as he tried to walk and carry the picnic basket at the same time.

Louis had brought a blanket this time, and so they found a nice dry spot in a large field and set the blanket down, and the lot of them clambered onto it, plopping down in various positions. Harry unpacked their lunch, and they all munched away, smiling and laughing and chatting about how nice it was, the sun peeking through the clouds, which was a rarity, really.

After they were finished with their lunch, Louis talked Harry into playing a game of tag with him and the girls, and they all ran around the field screaming like banshees, and if Harry fell over a few times it was definitely because there had been a rock or a tree stump in his way, and not because he'd tripped over his own feet.

It seemed like he was the biggest target. He'd been it about thirty times now. It was as if no matter who was it, they always chased after Harry. This game was more tiring than it should be.

Once they were done with that, they all ran around the playground, sliding down slides and pushing each other on the swings. Harry helped Phoebe with the monkey bars, and Louis helped Daisy figure out what sort of species different mushrooms were.

Once they were all worn out, Phoebe and Daisy climbed on to Harry and Louis' backs, so Lottie and Fizz were left to carry the blanket and picnic basket.

When they got home, they all dragged Jay in from the kitchen where she was doing dishes and sat her down on the couch. They all gathered 'round and watched films and ordered pizza for dinner. They made sundaes and if they had a bit of a food fight with the whipped cream, they cleaned it up before Jay could see. They all huddled together and watched one last film, until everyone's eyes were droopy, and Jay kept saying "You've got school tomorrow."

They all made their way up to bed, and Harry and Louis texted each other goodnight from their separate rooms, and Harry fell asleep with a huge grin on his face.

000

On Monday morning, Harry's mum called.

"Jay told me you and Louis are dating!" She said, before Harry had even had time to say hello.

"Er, yeah."

"Oh, God. I knew it. I've been waiting for this."

"Glad to know you're happy, mum."

"I'm ecstatic." Anne said, and Harry could hear the smile in her voice. "I'll see you in two days, sweetheart."

"See you, mum."

"Have a good day at school, love."

"I will." Harry smiled. "Bye, mum."

"Bye, Harry."

000

It was Tuesday night now, and Harry and Louis were sitting together on the couch, the rest of the family having gone to bed already.

"I'm not staying down here on your last night here." Louis shook his head.

"Well, come on then. I'm tired." Harry said, grabbing Louis' hand and standing up.

They made their way upstairs and climbed into the top bunk. Harry wrapped himself tightly around Louis and peppered the back of his neck with little kisses, and Louis giggled softly, which made Harry's heart soar.

"I'm going to miss having you here."

"I'm going to miss being here. I'll probably be over at least every weekend, so you have to promise not to get sick of me."

"I couldn't." Louis said. "I don't want to sleep, because the faster I go to sleep, the sooner you'll be gone."

"Go to sleep, Lou. I don't want you falling asleep in class."

"Fine." Louis sighed, turning his head a bit to kiss Harry's arm.

"G'night, Harry."

"Sweet dreams, Lou."

"My dreams are always sweet with you here."

"Stop being cheesy and go to sleep." Harry grinned, his eyes slipping shut as he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

000

The next day at school Harry and Louis may have been a little more obnoxious than need be, meeting each other between class for sweet little kisses and to say they hoped the other was having a good day, or being super heavy with the PDA at lunch, Louis actually sitting in Harry's lap for a while and causing all of their friends to groan in annoyance.

When school was over, they hopped into the car and drove back to Louis' house, where Harry's mum's car was already parked out front.

They got out of the car and went inside to find Anne, Gemma, Jay and the girls all sitting around and drinking tea. They sat down with everyone, and Jay handed them each a cup. They all sat there for a while, and Daisy and Phoebe ended up climbing into Harry's lap, knowing he was about to have to go home.

Anne and Gemma talked about their travels, and Harry listened intently, although Louis was fiddling with his shirt fondly, and it was hard not to be distracted.

Jay told Anne about how things had been with Harry around, and she told her about how Harry had done the girls' hair and how close they all felt to him now, and Anne smiled, and Lottie grinned and told her about how she'd gotten a boyfriend thanks to Harry's fishtail braid, and Harry insisted that it hadn't really been because of him, but Gemma argued, telling him that he had magical powers when it came to hair.

After that, Louis went upstairs with Harry and helped him toss all of his belongings back into his duffel bags. They made their way back downstairs, and Harry gave Fizzy a hug, and then Phoebe and Daisy, who didn't seem to want to let go, and then Lottie, who insisted that Harry still be around by the time she had prom and for every school dance between now and then, because she wanted him to do her hair, and he chuckled and told her that he would.

He hugged Jay and thanked her for her kindness and hospitality, and then came Louis. This one shouldn't have been the hardest, because he'd see him tomorrow at school, but it was. They hugged each other tightly and gave each other gentle kisses on the cheek, not wanting to kiss properly with both their families present.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?" Harry said.

"'Course. And I'll call you later."

"Okay." Harry grinned.

"Bye." Jay said. "I'm sure we'll see you all soon."

"Absolutely." Anne reassured her.

They all waved as Harry, Gemma and their mum left the Tomlinson residence, and as they were driving down the street, Harry was fiddling with the bracelet Louis had made for him.

"I'm gonna miss them. They became a little like a second family to me." Harry said softly.

"Just so long as they haven't replaced us." Anne said.

"Of course not."

000

That night, as Harry laid in his own bed, he talked to Louis on the phone until both of them were breathing shallowly and neither one could keep their eyes open. They said goodbye and hung up.

And as Harry laid there, slowly drifting off into a peaceful sleep, he couldn't help but think how much he missed Louis and the entire Tomlinson clan, but he was very glad to be home.


End file.
